Our Promise
by Arcelia
Summary: What if Christine and Raoul "got off on the wrong foot" from the start - would that give her masked admirer more of a chance at winning her? Or would Christine still set aside any differences with her childhood friend to escape her angel? movie-based, EC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I decided to change this story, starting with the first (and only) chapter.**

**So, now it makes slightly more sense. And its written a bit better.**

**Err...basic summary:**

**Christine sees Raoul, recognises him, but he doesn't recognise her, and seems to act disdainfully towards her. She gets miffed, and so their relationship develops differently to the course of the original story. Movie-based.**

** Enjoy?**

* * *

_Splendid_, I thought to myself, sighing and shifting uncomfortably as pain shot through my aching limbs.

"Christine?" Meg glanced at me. "Are you alright?"

Realising that I must have sighed out loud, I smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm fine." Meg raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Really!" I said earnestly. She considered me, not entirely convinced.

"Well…it's probably the prospect of hearing the delightful Carlotta sing," I said lightly. It worked – she giggled, and I laughed with her, stopping quickly as we received a glare from Madame Giry.

"Christine, Megan, Places!"

We mouthed "sorry" to her, and quickly got into position for our entry; I winced again when my muscles started to throb.

Our dance started, and we entered onto the stage. However, half-way through, we were halted by Monsieur Lefevre.

"If I could have your attention please?" he asked loudly. We all stopped dancing, turning to look at him.

"Thank you. I would like to announce that the Opera Populaire has been sold."

There were sounds of surprise and astonishment at his announcement, as everyone turned to their friends to discuss the startling news.

"Who do you think has bought it?" whispered Meg excitedly to me. I sighed.

"I don't really care, Meg."

"What?" Meg gasped, sounding exactly like I would have imagined she would sound if I told her I was a murderer. "How can you not care?! Christine, this is the biggest news in the opera house since…since…" unable to think of anything to say, she trailed off into silence. I raised an eyebrow, and was about to speak when Monsieur Lefevre called for quiet once more.

"And now," he continued, "to introduce the new managers, Monsieur Firman and Monsieur André!"

The two men stepped forward, bowing, as we all applauded politely. Wait. No, I had been mistaken. There was a third man behind them, who looked startlingly familiar…

The man whose name I thought I heard as Monsieur André smiled genially at us all. "I thank you all for your warm welcome. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Opera House's new patron, Vicomte Raoul de Chagny!"

I couldn't believe it. Raoul!? What was he doing here!?

Meg looked over at me, hearing my gasp of surprise.

"What's wrong?" she whispered to me.

"Raoul," I whispered back, "the Vicomte de Chagny, I know him!" Astonishment filled her features.

"You know him? That handsome man?"

I nodded.

"He was a childhood friend of mine," I explained. Thinking back, I smiled slightly. I hadn't seen him in so long…

Meg giggled.

"Do you think he'll recognise you?"

I tried to look indifferent.

"It has been a while – and it doesn't matter much to me, anyway."

"Of course."

Meg smirked at me, very obviously not convinced. And in a way, she was right. It would be nice if he actually did recognise me – it would be nice to know that he valued those memories enough to be able to know me when he saw me.

Stop it, I scolded myself. The only reason that I had recognised him was because of the announcing of his name. Nothing else…

I jerked myself back to reality in time to hear Monsieur Firman ask Carlotta a question.

Meg and I blinked.

"He can't have just asked her to sing, right?" asked Meg of me despairingly.

"Oh, come on Meg! She – well, her voice, anyway – is not that bad!"

She raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled sheepishly.

"I know, I know! It's bad to lie!"

We laughed softly, and then cringed as Carlotta started to sing.

I listened to Carlotta's voice, wincing at the screeching tones. Yet again, I marvelled at how anyone could be so tone-deaf as to make Carlotta the prima donna. I glanced over at Meg, and almost laughed at the sight of my best friend's features contorted in a mock grimace of pain. She noticed I was looking, and grinned at me, mouthing the words _kill me! _

I nodded in agreement, barely keeping myself from breaking into laughter at her expression, when… CRASH!

Carlotta's shriek echoed through the opera house – the nicest-sounding thing to come from her mouth all rehearsal – and all of us watched in astonishment as the curtain fell.

On her.

Meg and I barely kept ourselves from laughing at her expression (it was so hilarious!) but sobered rather abruptly as she started to scream.

"I am leaving!" she screeched, her long speech finally coming to an end, as she dragged Piangi out with her. Everyone looked dismayed – and with good reason; what were we going to do without a _prima donna_?

"This is a disaster!" shouted Monsieur André, who looked as if he were about to cry.

"Christine Daaé can sing it, sir."

I looked around in absolute bewilderment, not realising immediately that those words had come from an unusually serious Meg.

"The chorus girl? Don't be silly!" scoffed Monsieur Firman. I quite agreed with him.

However, urged by Madame Giry and Meg, I was eventually coerced into reluctantly singing. I began hesitantly;

_Think of me, think of me fondly, _

_when we've said goodbye. _

_Remember me once in a while _

_please promise me you'll try._

_When you find that, once again, you long to_

_take your heart back and be free_

_if you ever find a moment _

_spare a thought for me..._

I stopped, uncertain. Had I sung well? No one was saying anything. I thought my voice had been passable, but perhaps I hadn't…

"My apologies, monsieurs, for taking up your valuable time," I whispered, stepping back to my place.

"She will sing it," choked out Monsieur Firman. Monsieur André's face was ecstatic.

But, as I automatically looked to the other side of the room, to where Raoul was, I saw him look straight into my eyes.

And then he shrugged slightly and turned, as if I hadn't been there.

_Oh_.

"Well _done_, Christine!" shouted Meg delightedly, earning a stern look from her mother (which she pretended to ignore.)

Madame Giry nodded – for once in agreement with her daughter – and gave me a rare smile.

"Your teacher will be most pleased," she said.

I smiled back at her, trying to ignore the wave of panic that suddenly hit me.

_What if I disappointed him? What if he left me?_

Maybe he would even show himself to me, if I performed well at the show.

"You had better rehearse well," Madame Giry remarked, almost as if she could read my thoughts, and I nodded in agreement.

"Christine," Meg whispered to me as we walked to the side of the stage, "be more enthusiastic!" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm too tired to be enthusiastic. And I'm worried that I'll sing terribly and embarrass everyone."

This time, _she _rolled _her_ eyes.

"Yes, well, _when _– not if, _when_ – you sing amazingly and dazzle the audience with your glorious splendour, the Vicomte will most _certainly _notice you."

I frowned.

"I don't wish for him to notice me," I said coldly – a lie, of course – walking away before she could make me feel even worse.

* * *

**So...opinions? Should I just stuff this story and concentrate solely on "Say you love me" and "Light Within"?**

**The fate of this dubiously existent narrative is in your hands, mesdames et messieurs. (Well, mainly mesdames, really. No offence at all intended to the males who read POTO fanfic, of course.)**

**Cheers,**

**Arcèlia**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

**I warn those who are reading this chapter. I really, REALLY think its bad. Not bad in a grammatical way, or a spelling way. Just bad. And awkward to write. Because I had to stick to the movie plot.**

**Next chapter'll probably be better, and flow more easily, because (warning) that's when the deviation - at least in character relationships, and in a small way, plot - will actually begin.**

**And Raoul did NOT recognise Christine last chapter; he thought of her as some random chorus girl, which is why he looked away dismissively. And why she was angry.**

**Reviews are (as always) truly appreciated, and my heartfelt thanks to those who took the time to review last chapter!**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

It was odd, really.

Though we had rehearsed thoroughly, my nerves had been raw – why, I had even snapped at _Meg_!

Waiting backstage, fear had gripped me; my throat drying, breath and heart-beat quickening.

And yet, when I had finally (with the urging of Madame Giry) tentatively stepped into the audience's gaze, and the first sounds came from my mouth, it was…

A dream.

There was no other way to describe it; the sensation of the music surrounding me, lifting me, caressing me in its magically ensnaring grip.

It felt as though I was back in the room where my voice mingled in a harmony of the purest song with that of my Angel.

And though I had no indication of my Angel being here, I sang to him; _for _him. The audience all-but vanished for me – all the audience, that is, but one; the Angel who had given my voice its soul - its music...

* * *

**Raoul's POV (for the first, and probably **_**only**_**, time in my entire fan-fiction career)**

Though I had been _most _relieved when the chorus girl with the sweet voice had taken over from that _insufferable _Spanish diva, that had been my only thought in relation to the young brunette; a means by wish I would avoid the suffering of my ears.

_But...her voice...!_

"Oh god..." I whispered, "is that..._Christine_...?!" Standing dazedly as the instrumental music swelled in a crescendo – in harmony with the tumultuous applause – I clapped, looking down at her in shock.

All of a sudden, the way her eyes had met mine made sense.

"No wonder she was looking at me," I groaned, head in hands, "and I treated her like a mere chorus girl!"

I rushed from the box, striding purposefully down the stairs. I had no idea of what I would say to her – but to have the opportunity to speak to her, I was determined.

* * *

**Christine's POV (thank god, because writing from Raoul's POV is vaguely difficult. And I think that I stuffed up his character.)**

The last note of the cadenza (which, to my relief was actually in tune) hovered in the room for a long moment, before it was drowned out by thunderous applause. Short of breath, I stood frozen to the stage, blushing furiously.

Nervously, I curtseyed, before pivoting around and almost running from the audience's eye, smiling and nodding indiscriminately at the onrush of cast members offering me their congratulations.

"Well done, Christine!" Meg offered, and I smiled wanly at her; stage fright – belated though it was – was finally starting to wash over me, and I felt slightly sick. I'd been caught up by the moment; the music, the audience, everything. But now that I was away from it all…!

Meg, being the wonderful, observant friend that she was, immediately noticed my paleness, and shooed everyone else away, clearing a path for us to walk.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. I nodded.

"Are you sure….? Evidently, she wasn't convinced. I nodded again, more fervently this time.

"Well…"

"Meg Giry!" someone shouted, "your mother wants you!"

My blonde friend sighed dramatically, before racing away.

"I'll be back soon, Christine!" she called over her shoulder.

Deciding to take advantage of Meg's absence, I made my way down to the small, in-Opera-House chapel. Kneeling before the altar, I prayed silently that my Angel had found my performance to be pleasing.

"_Brava…"_

"_Brava…"_

"_Bravissima…"_

"Ah!

With a gasp, I fairly leapt to my feet – to hear Meg's voice calling me.

"Christine…? Christine!"

"_Christine…_"

"Where on earth have you _been_, Christine?" Meg demanded. I suppressed a smile at her indignation, and attempted to look apologetic. She rolled her eyes.

"Well _hurry_! Everyone is waiting for you!" She grasped my wrist firmly, dragging me from the room.

* * *

_He watched with annoyance as the Giry girl dragged Christine from the room; effectively denying him the opportunity to properly congratulate her – for her performance had truly been breathtaking…_

"_Soon, she will no longer require my instruction…" he sighed sadly, as he turned away from the small chapel room._

_Determinedly, he pushed away the unwelcome thoughts._

I still have time_, he told himself firmly, _she will not accept – nor encourage – any idiot suitors while she still needs me_._

_I have time…_

_

* * *

_

**So...was it bad???**

**And I was GOING to do Erik's bit at the end in first person, but decided that I'd butchered enough characters for the time being.**

**Reviews are nice, and give me encouragement to force my way through writing - even in the face of the dreaded Writing-Block dragon!**

**Cheers,**

**Arcèlia**


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